Will high cost sink levee plan?

Local officials say they fear a newly projected $12.9 billion price tag could scuttle plans to build a full-fledged hurricane-protection system for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

Nikki BuskeyStaff Writer

Local officials say they fear a newly projected $12.9 billion price tag could scuttle plans to build a full-fledged hurricane-protection system for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.But U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said he has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to come up with a less-expensive version of the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system.The corps released a draft report Friday updating the system's cost, path and construction standards. The report also expands the scope of the project, adding miles of levees and floodgates."I have been demanding that they move forward on Morganza in a practical way," Vitter said. "I have known for months that this report would inflate the scope and the project up to unrealistic levels, and I have demanded and gotten the corps to perform a step 2, which is looking at how we can alter the project to move the cost down."The latest report by the corps will not impact the Terrebonne Levee District's work to complete its interim levee system along Morganza's path.But local officials say the high cost raises concerns that money may never materialize for the corps to upgrade the levee system to provide much more substantial protection against Gulf of Mexico storm surges.State and local officials must come up with 35 percent of the cost, estimated between $3.6 billion and $4.5 billion."It will be very, very difficult to get funding for this project short of a disaster that destroys this local economy, which is exactly what we're trying to prevent," Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said.

The study, launched after Congress authorized the project in 2007, was necessary because Morganza was going to exceed its then-projected cost of $886 million by more than 20 percent. In addition, the project needed to be updated with newer, more-stringent levee-design standards enacted after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, corps officials said.The report inserts 36 additional miles of levees, extending from U.S. 90 in Gibson to La. 1 in Lockport. Morganza would then include 98 miles of levees, a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal, 19 floodgates and 23 water-control structures.The western extension would follow the south side of Bayou Black Drive to Gibson with floodgates on Bayou Black and Shell, Elliot Jones, Hanson, Humphreys and Minors canals. There would also be a new floodgate on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The eastern extension will connect with south Lafourche's Larose-to-Golden Meadow levee system below Cut Off. It would follow the path of that levee system to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, where a second floodgate would be built. The levee would then follow the eastern side of the Lafourche ridge up to Lockport. The community of Gheens would be left outside the system.Levees will be built up to 26.5 feet high, and flood-protection and water-control structures would be built more than 30 feet high, according to the report. Levee widths will range from 282 feet to 725 feet.The system's tallest point would be the southernmost floodgates, which could reach 33 feet, according to corps project manager Elaine Stark. The lowest levees on the northernmost ends would be 18 feet.

State and local officials have long cited Morganza as an example of the extreme bureaucracy that bogs down corps projects. Conceived in 1992, $70 million has been spent to study the project.The new report represents the sixth time Morganza will have been authorized by Congress, the state said in a letter to the corps. In that time, the estimated cost has risen from $550 million to $12.9 billion.Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said continued delays and overly strict construction standards have made the project so expensive.But Stark said better modelling of storm-surge threats undertaken after Hurricane Katrina shows that bigger, longer levees are needed to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche.Before Katrina, the corps developed its flood-protection standards with storm-surge models that looked at 11 historic floods. In the current models, the corps looked at historic storms as well as statistically feasible worst-case-scenario floods for the region. Those models show the system needs to be expanded and modified because of the broader, deeper flooding that could occur, Stark said.State and local officials have complained that the corps' post-Katrina construction standards make levees so expensive that the projects never get done. "I don't see how Congress is going to put this kind of money forward," said South Lafourche Levee Director Windell Curole. "It's easy to put standards on a piece of paper, but if you really want to provide flood protection, you need to put something affordable on the ground."While that would result in locals accepting a higher-risk of their levees being overtopped, officials said it would be worth it."We would accept a higher risk to get more of the protection we need at the present time," said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet.Vitter has asked the corps to complete a new, more-reasonable cost-benefit analysis by mid-year, when a final version of the report is expected to be done. He said he hopes to bring the project cost down by at least 20-30 percent."We will hopefully end up with a realistic project that can be built," Vitter said.

In 2008, after Hurricane Ike flooded Terrebonne, the parish's Levee District decided to move forward building a smaller-scale flood-protection system along Morganza's path. Last month, voters approved a half-cent sales tax to support construction of that system, which includes 10-foot levees and 18-foot floodgates from Gibson to Larose.If the corps' Morganza project ever makes it to construction, local officials hope to get credit for the work they've done and count it toward the billions in matching money they must pay toward the levee project.But Stark said there's no means of doing that, and something would have to be written into federal legislation or in a project agreement before the corps brings its Morganza plans to construction."They are currently proceeding at their own risk," she said.To get at least some protection, locals say it is a risk they must take."Just imagine if we had been waiting for the federal government to handle our protection," Claudet said. "We would love to see this levee, but we have to be realistic. That's why I'm so glad we passed this sales tax — now we have the chance to build the first lift of Morganza on our own."

A forum to provide an overview of the report and take public comments is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Houma Municipal Auditorium, 880 Verret St.Written comments can also be submitted to Nathan Dayan, environmental manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 60267, New Orleans, La., 70160-0267 or by email to morganza.comments@usace.army.mil.They can also be made by phone to 504-862-2530 or by fax to 504-862-2088. Comments will be accepted until Feb. 18.The corps will use those comments to draft a final version of the report, which must be approved by corps headquarters and again authorized for construction by Congress.Vitter said his goal is to include an authorization for Morganza in a major water-projects bill expected to go before Congress this year. Vitter is the top Republican on the Senate's environmental committee that will oversee that bill — the Water Resources Development Act.U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said major reforms in the way the corps does business are also necessary, something state leaders have called for as projects such as Morganza have stalled."The people of Lafourche and Terrebonne have waited long enough for the flood protection they need and deserve. Morganza-to-the-Gulf should have been built years ago. Unfortunately, the current process of studying, authorizing and funding Corps of Engineers projects is broken. As a result, project costs skyrocket unnecessarily," Landrieu said. "As we begin this new Congress, I'm committed to reforming corps processes and securing the necessary funding to protect Louisiana's coastal communities. The congressional delegation and the local leaders are determined to construct Morganza-to-the-Gulf at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable time frame." The report can be viewed online at http://1.usa.gov/ZVel3A. You'll find the link with this story at houmatoday.com and dailycomet.com.

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.